Reports of TikTok US sale to Elon Musk are 'pure fiction', says ByteDance

(Sharecast News) - ByteDance has quashed speculation that the company is considering a sale of its US TikTok operations to X owner Elon Musk ahead of an impending ban by Washington lawmakers. Early on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported that Chinese officials were evaluating a possible deal with the Tesla and SpaceX founder, though their preferred strategy was to fight the ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court.

However, a ByteDance spokesperson later responded to the reports, saying: "We can't be expected to comment on pure fiction."

The speculation comes just days ahead of a 19 January ban of the short-video app in the United States over national security concerns, due to Beijing's alleged influence over the company.

While ByteDance has consistently denied the claims, Washington officials have declared that the company must either sell its US operations or the ban will be upheld.

According to people closer to the matter cited by Bloomberg, the latest rumours suggest that ByteDance may not have the final say on what happens to TikTok's US business, with Chinese officials thought to be using a possible sale as a bargaining chip in future trade negotiations with the incoming Trump administration.

Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the US operations could be valued at between $40bn and $50bn.